MobieTrain raises €9m to expand European market leadership in microlearning
MobieTrain raises €9m to expand European market leadership in microlearning
MobieTrain, the market-leading microlearning application for frontline workers, announces a €9m funding round led by two new shareholders, Fortino Capital and BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity, with the participation of existing financial partners Concentra, FOM Capital and LRM. The Belgian HR tech scale-up will leverage the funds to accelerate its expansion into new European growth markets in the coming months, sustain product development and innovate the way people learn at work.
Founded in 2015 by Guy Van Neck (CEO), Mireille Van Hemert-Schelling (COO) and Willi van Boven (CTO), MobieTrain aims to make continuous learning accessible to deskless staff all across the globe. Its microlearning technology facilitates a smooth onboarding process and training for frontline employees such as shop assistants, construction workers, nurses and logistics staff. Short, gamified learning modules for smartphones simplify information transfers, increase knowledge retention and improve employee motivation.
Opening new markets
Over the past year, the company has achieved triple-digit growth with more than half of its revenue coming from international markets. Over a hundred organisations in thirty countries, including brands such as Azadea, Diesel, Emirates Post, Hästens, Odlo, Roompot, VF and Via Outlet, now train their frontline staff with MobieTrain.
“To maintain this rate of growth, we’re strengthening our teams in Genk, Madrid, Milan and Amsterdam, where we opened a new office just last month. We will soon be expanding into Germany, France and the UK too, and starting remote sales from Madrid in other markets such as Scandinavia. This internationalisation should allow us to at least double our turnover every year and consolidate our position as market leader in Europe,” explains CEO Guy Van Neck as he outlines the company’s ambitions.
New shareholders
Fortino Capital is an investor specialising in B2B software-as-a-service. Renaat Berckmoes, Partner at Fortino Capital: “Only 20 percent of companies blend HR with operations and IT to improve their deskless working lives. According to recent research, the training market for 2.8 billion global frontline workers is expected to reach $40.1 billion by 2027, compared to $18.9 billion in 2022. MobieTrain’s recent, successful expansion in southern Europe underlines their great potential. We look forward to helping MobieTrain on its international journey.”
BNP Paribas Fortis is also giving MobieTrain a financial injection through its Private Equity arm. "It fits in with our strategy of helping promising Belgian scale-ups to grow together with reputable co-investors. We were impressed by MobieTrain’s management, expansion and product range. The company’s HR technology meets the demands for fast training in a dynamic labour market,” says Raf Moons, Head of BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity.
Investments after previous round
Since the previous financial injection in May 2021, MobieTrain has opened branches in Spain and Italy, with the workforce expanding to 53. The HR tech company now employs fifteen different nationalities. These investments helped MobieTrain to more than double its turnover again in 2021.
Deloitte FAST50
MobieTrain received a prestigious HR Excellence Award earlier this year, and was recognised with a Deloitte FAST50 nomination at the end of September. FAST50 winners are the fifty fastest growing technology companies, and will be announced on 27 October.
About MobieTrain
Employees can use MobieTrain’s gamified microlearning app to support their development – ‘in the flow of work’ – whenever they want. The app works with short modules that last from five to ten minutes and is mainly used on mobile devices, making it particularly handy for frontline employees. MobieTrain uses microlearning, gamification and quizzes, personalisation and built-in retention techniques for knowledge transfer up to six times more effective than conventional teaching methods. Among other things, clients use the software to improve their sales or customer experience, diversify training, support changes in the organisation, or for safety instructions at work.
MobieTrain was founded in 2015 by CEO Guy Van Neck and co-founders Mireille van Hemert-Schelling and Willi Van Boven. Other major shareholders are BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity, Concentra, Force Over Mass Capital, Fortino Capital and LRM. Clients include Decathlon, Deloitte, Emirates Post, Diesel and Proximus. MobieTrain has offices at the start-up incubator C-Mine Crib in Genk, a software branch in Lisbon, and sales offices in Amsterdam, Madrid and Milan. The company currently employs around 55 people. For more info, visit http://www.mobietrain.com.
About Fortino Capital
Fortino Capital Partners is a European investment company with a focus on high-growth B2B software solutions managing two private equity funds and two venture capital funds. With offices in Belgium and the Netherlands, Fortino backs exceptional and ambitious entrepreneurs in North-Western Europe. Fortino's Venture Capital portfolio includes Vertuoza (BE), TechWolf (BE), Timeseer.ai (BE), Zaion (FR), Salonkee (LUX), Sides (DE), D2X (NL), Peers (DE), Reveall (NL), Kosli (NO) among others. Fortino Capital’s private equity portfolio includes VanRoey (BE), BizzMine (BE) Mobilexpense (BE), Efficy CRM (BE), Maxxton (NL), among others.
About BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity
BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity, the venture capital arm of BNP Paribas Fortis, has been active in the private equity market in Belgium for over 40 years. BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity currently acquires minority stakes and provides mezzanine financing to high-performing medium-sized companies. BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity also invests in specialised venture capital and private equity funds that are present on the Belgian market and acts as investment adviser to the Belgian Growth Fund (BGF). Direct holdings of BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity include Studio 100, Konings, reMYND, Quality Assistance and PointChaud.
